Remnants of Power
by DeltaWing13
Summary: In the peak of the final battle, Kaguya activates the remnants of her power to initiate her revenge. Caught in the aftermath, Naruto now has to survive the world of Remnant... with no way to recover his chakra, and a rapidly fading Kurama. Naruto x Pyrrha (for now). Up for Adoption.
1. The Beginning

**AN: I know, I probably shouldn't start** _ **another**_ **story, and even if I were, it'd probably be from the poll. But I recently watched RWBY, up to Season 3, where _ dies, so… I can't resist making this. And since I'm bedridden, I might as well start! XD**

 **Please note that I haven't finished all of RWBY yet, as I've stated already.**

 **Also, pairing is undecided as of yet. Please read and review.**

..

"Sasukeeeeeee!"

"Narutooooooo!"

Naruto grimaced as he glared up at the rapidly approaching form of Sasuke, Rasengan in his hand as he reached out to the Chidori fueled with Amaterasu.

'Why did you choose this path, Sasuke…'

Naruto pushed the rest of Kurama's chakra into his attack, gritting his teeth.

'But I won't let you travel down this path!'

He flung his arm out above him, their respective attacks impacting each other. For a moment, the two attacks against each other, equally matched, and Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes.

'...'

Suddenly, an explosion engulfed them, purple light exploding to the sides of the valley as the edges of his vision dimmed.

Vaguely, he registered Sasuke flying up as the force pushed the ravenette away, while he himself plummeted down to earth, unable to resist that very force, aided by gravity.

He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact, smiling.

Finally, it was over…

His eyes snapped open as a tingling sensation spread through him, but only darkness greeted him.

Was he dead? No, that wasn't it. This squared, tear in the fabric of space...

Hadn't they sealed her?!

He looked up at the sky which was so far away now that he was falling further into the portal. The moon was there, though dimmed severely, and cracks had formed on the right half.

Perhaps… this was the remnants of her power...

His smile turned bitter, but he was unable to do anything as he fell into the portal. At least the others were safe…

Old Man Six Paths said that the power of the tailed beasts, and the Rinnegan, should be enough to free everyone else. Sasuke still had control of the tailed beasts, so…

Naruto closed his eyes again, letting his consciousness finally slip away as he fell into the darkness.

"I leave the rest to you… teme…"

..

Ruby looked up as her hood was tugged off her head, looking up a man in a suit and cool red glasses motioned for her to take off her headphones. Doing so, she noted that he had a sword.

"I said, put your hands in the air!" he yelled.

Oh.

OH.

Ruby smirked a little. "Are you… robbing me?"

" _Yes_!"

"Oh."

Before the man could react, she gave him a roundhouse kick, sending him flying to the front of the store. While she waited for his accomplices to come, she began activating her weapon, Crescent Rose.

She spun her scythe in excitement as, like she expected, another goon came running from the front of the store.

Swinging her scythe behind her, she fired, the recoil sending her flying at the second goon.

Her feet connected with his chest, bringing them both crashing through the window of the shop.

Oops.

She'll pay for that later.

She swung her scythe in circles, looking back casually and planting the tip into the concrete with ease.

3 goons appeared in the broken window, along with someone in a white suit, bowler hat, and a cig.

Definitely the evil boss.

"Okay…" the evil boss said, before indicating at her with his head. "Get her."

The three came out like they were told, and the first one was quickly kneed in the face, Ruby swinging on her scythe to hit him again, this time sending him flying.

She chased after him with the recoil from her scythe, the two others chasing after her. Stopping suddenly, she fired a third time, hitting the first with the back of her scythe and sending him flying _again_.

She finished another off by slamming him with the back of her scythe, moving onto her next target as the victim let out a girlish cry.

Dashing backwards with her Semblance, Ruby dodged out of the way as the third opponent fired at her, springing forwards and knocking him off his feet before turning around and finishing him off with the blunt end of his scythe.

She landed a bit in front of the shop, just in time to see the evil boss step over his henchman's body, muttering something.

"Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd like to stick around…"

He dropped his cig on the ground, squashing it with his cane. Then, he raised it and pointed the butt end at her.

"I'm afraid this is where we part ways." he finished, a small scope popping out of the cane.

A bullet- infused with Fire Dust, probably- shot out, and Ruby quickly pointed Crescent Rose at the ground and fired, managing to avoid the potentially devastating blast.

Landing on her feet, she looked around, but couldn't find the evil boss.

Darnit. Maybe he had escaped to the roofs?

She turned her eyes up, but a square of blackness in the air caught her attention, quickly expanding horizontally a few feet above the middle of the street.

By the time it was at least a good dozen feet wide, something dropped out of it.

A very beat-up, red and orange something.

She looked up again as a Bullhead took flight, only to be stopped as attacks were sent after it from the roof of a building.

Someone returned fire from the Bullhead, and eventually an explosion seemed to stall the person on top long enough for the Bullhead to get away.

Ruby transformed her weapon again, trying to fire at it, but they didn't do much. She could only look as the ship flew away.

..

"I hope you realize your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger."

Ruby looked sheepish as a Huntress paced the floor behind her, as she sat in an interrogation room.

"They started it!" she replied, inwardly wincing at how childish her response was.

The woman didn't look up from her scroll, moving in front of her so that Ruby could see her. "If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…"

Ruby smiled, looking hopeful.

"And a slap on the wrist." the woman finished, looking back at her, her voice much stricter. For emphasis, she slapped her weapon of choice, a riding crop, on the table.

"Eek!"

The woman retracted her weapon, though, and sighed. "But… there is someone here who would like to meet you."

..

Black.

So much black.

Naruto grunted, his brows furrowing as he tried to remember what happened.

' _Naruto, Sasuke, and everyone… Congratulations on saving the world._ '

' _I am alone. And now alone, I can shoulder and bear all of that hatred myself._ '

' _Farewell… my one and only… friend…_ '

Naruto shot up, gasping for breath. Clutching his chest with his left arm, he glanced around.

He was in an infirmary room of some kind, by the looks of it. He'd definitely recognize this kind of room.

His eyes snapped towards the door as he heard the doorknob turn, and a gray-haired man entered, holding a cup of coffee. A black/red-haired girl tried to enter afterwards, but he raised a hand, making her stop at the door.

He pushed against the mattress, flipping so that he was off the mattress and tried to land on his feet.

Key word, he _tried_.

He quickly lost his balance, falling to the right and onto the floor, coughing.

"Wh-what…?"

Slowly, Naruto looked to his right.

Right where his elbow was, where his _arm_ was supposed to be… Nothing. Just some bandages wrapped around it, only a tint of red remaining.

He had lost his arm.

The gray-haired man cleared his throat, though that didn't seem to register with Naruto, who just kept staring at his lost limb.

Regardless, he started speaking. "Well, young sir, I must admit it is pleasant to see a patient acting so invigorated immediately after waking up, I wouldn't suggest moving too much too soon."

The man took a seat at the small table to the right of the bed, setting his coffee down. "The doctors did the best they could, but we haven't seen an injury like this in quite a long time, mr…"

"Naruto." he replied, still looking despondently at the arm. "Naruto Uzumaki."

The man nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Naruto. My name is Ozpin." Ozpin replied, sipping his coffee. "I'm afraid we can't fix your arm, so you'll have to make do with a mechanical one from Atlas."

Naruto, raised an eyebrow at that, though they couldn't see it. "Mechanical…? Like the heat generator in the Land of Spring?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow as well. "I can't say if it's similar to what's in this… Spring Country you talk about, but the arm itself is most likely similar to what you're saying."

Naruto frowned, shaking his head in refusal. Slowly, he got to his feet, and sat down on the bed, staring at the hand in his lap.

"I… I'll be fine…" he looked up, eyes wide. "More importantly, is Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei alright?!"

Ozpin gave him an appraising look, before shaking his head.

"I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with those people. Young Ruby over there," he pointed towards the door, making Ruby smile and wave weakly, trying and failing not to stare at Naruto's stump. "found you in the middle of the street. Right after you fell out a 'black, portal-like thing'. You've slept for nearly a day since."

While Naruto took in this information, Ozpin motioned with his head for Ruby to come in, patting the chair next to him.

'It was probably Kaguya who sent me here… but why?' Naruto thought silently, hand on his chin. 'Kurama? You there, Kurama?'

Naruto waited for a response, but received none. Panicking slightly, he raised his hand to his forehead, eyes widened.

"Kurama? Are you there, Kurama? This isn't funny, you damn fox!" he yelled, making the other two occupants in the room slightly concerned, to say the least. "Kurama!?"

" **Stop shouting, brat."**

Naruto sighed in relief, lowering his hand. 'Where are we, Kurama? These people don't seem to know about the Land of Spring…'

" **...I… I actually can't answer that one. We aren't anywhere near the Elemental Nations. Chakra's weaker, too. That's why you took so long to recover."**

Naruto's eyes widened again. Shutting down the link, Naruto looked at Ozpin, he narrowed his eyes. "Where are we?"

"We're in Beacon, my school." Ozpin replied. "More specifically, the infirmary on the school grounds."

Naruto waved his hand. "Not that. Which country? Hidden Village?"

"Hidden Village?" Ruby asked, tilting her head. "What are Hidden Villages?"

Naruto stared blankly at her, the back at Ozpin, who shrugged. Putting his hand to his face, he started laughing bitterly.

"What the hell… Just when we finished everything… Where the hell did you send me, Kaguya?" he laughed, leaning backwards. "Damn it all…"

He sighed, wiping away a few tears, before righting himself.

"What do you plan on doing now?" Ozpin asked, crossing his fingers and leaning forwards, raising an eyebrow at the erratic behaviour.

It wasn't out of hysteria, nor that of a psychotic man. No. This boy… man… was broken. Something happened, and it broke him. Ozpin wanted to know why.

"...You said this was a school?" Naruto prompted. After receiving a nod, he asked, "What does it teach?"

Ozpin leaned back, opening his mouth to answer, but Ruby beat him to it.

"You don't know?!" she exclaimed, before explaining excitedly. "Beacon's like, the most famous of the four Academies ever! Here we learn to become Hunters and Huntresses, to fight the Grimm!"

Naruto raised his eyebrows, looking at Ozpin with a silent question, replied with a nod.

The blond's eyes grew unfocused, thinking again, for a good few minutes. When he came back, he nodded. "If it'll help me learn in this world… Can I join?"

Ozpin mentally noted the way he said 'this world', as though he wasn't from it, and nodded. "But first, I'll have to see if you can fight, first…"

"Deal."

..

After a few more minutes, Ozpin left the room, leaving Ruby and Naruto alone.

"So, uh…" Ruby fidgeted slightly in her seat, torn between leaving and staying to talk. "I guess you'll be my classmate soon?"

The blond glanced up at her, and shrugged. "I suppose."

"Um…" Ruby thought hard about something to talk about, scrunching up her forehead. "Um… What happened to your arm?"

Naruto's eyes flicked up to her again, but stayed there this time. And he stared. And stared. And-

"I'm so-"

"...I lost it in a fight." Naruto said, right as Ruby bent her head down to apologize. "I was fighting with someone I considered a brother, and we blew each others' arms off. When I woke up, I was here."

"...That sounds… tough…" Ruby commented, unsure of how to respond.

He had someone close enough to be called a brother, but blew off his arm in the process?

"What were you fighting about?" she asked, hesitant to pry into it any further yet too curious at the same time.

Naruto sighed again, flopping onto the bed. "...I'd rather not talk about it. Not yet."

Ruby nodded silently, looking down at her interlocked fingers, then looking back up at the blond. Seeing as he was unlikely to talk any more, she decided to leave the room.

At the doorway, she paused, wondering if it was rude to leave without saying anything, or not.

"Uh… Goodbye!"

Naruto waved his hand lazily.

"See you later, Red."

..

 **This was shorter than 3k words, like I promised, but eh, whatever. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Also, possible pairings I'm considering are: Naruto and Ruby, Blake, Yang(?), Cinder, Emerald, Neo, and Pyrrha(?)**

 **(?) means it's questionable.**


	2. The Kingdom of Vale

**AN: So, I'm pretty excited about this story, so I went ahead and decided to make a second chapter in a row instead of my other stories… XD**

 **In any case, the pairings seem to be leaning heavily towards Pyrrha, which is great. I thought you'd all be for Jaune x Pyrrha, so I was hesitant to do Naruto x Pyrrha, but… well, that doesn't seem to be a problem. I AM TOTALLY DOING IIIIIIT! Neo was also a top option, so… fun. Ruby, I feel as though she'd do better in a brother/sister relationship. It'll be healthy for Naruto. Probably.**

 **Enjoy!**

..

It's been over an hour since the hyperactive blond saw off his two visitors, and he had yet to move from his bed, instead choosing to reflect upon his situation.

His thoughts switched between his lost arm, to Sasuke, to this 'Beacon' he was to attend, then back to his arm.

The man called Ozpin had offered him a robot arm from some place called Atlas… As cool as that would be, Naruto had refused, the lost limb being his only reminder of Sasuke…

As he thought about Sasuke, he wondered where he was, and if everyone else was alright. And that led Naruto to think about where _he_ was, including the two places mentioned; Beacon, and Atlas.

And then Atlas reminded him of the arm.

He didn't seem to care about the unending nature of his cycle of thoughts, trapped in them as he was, however.

Fortunately for a certain Uzumaki, his tenant was less than pleased. And he wasn't afraid to show it.

" **Enough moping, brat."** Kurama grumbled, urging the blond out of his thoughts. " **Out of those thoughts going through your head right now, only one is important. And that is, where the heck we are."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow at that, laughing mirthlessly. 'Really, Kurama? Not the fact that I lost my right arm, or that it was my best friend that did it?'

Kurama shrugged. " **If you ask me, I'm surprised you even considered him a friend for as long as you had. He's tried to kill you, what, two times now?"**

'Three…' Naruto corrected glumly.

" **So playing nice with a guy trying to kill you, what did you expect?"** Kurama half-yelled, exasperated. " **So, what** _ **I**_ **think is important is figuring out why both of us can't recover chakra anymore."**

This piqued Naruto's interest. 'Wait, what do you mean? Can't I recover chakra from my surroundings, and you with Nature Chakra?'

" **That's the thing. Earlier, I told you chakra was weaker, right?"** Kurama asked, getting a nod from Naruto in return. " **Well, I was wrong. I managed to get a certain amount of chakra before the portal closed, but once it did, there's been no more chakra, period."**

Naruto's eyes widened, and he sat upright, crossing his legs, and meditating. Kurama was right, there was no chakra…

Naruto's eyes popped open again. 'Hold up, but aren't you a mass of chakra with a brain or something? What happens if you're out of chakra?'

Kurama stilled for a moment, thinking. " **...I should be good for at least a week, if nothing happens..."**

'That's not what I asked, Kurama!' Naruto retorted angrily. 'What will happen when you run out of chakra?'

" **..."**

Naruto narrowed his eyes, slumping back onto his pillow.

" **Like I said, enough moping around."** Kurama barked, getting a frown from Naruto. " **I never thought I'd say this to you of all people, but you need to get back on your feet. Is this what Kakashi and Sakura would've wanted? Neji? All those who died in the war? That damned father and mother of yours?! No! Whatever's going on here, you need to make the best of it!"**

Naruto gritted his teeth, but was unable to argue. Slamming his fist onto the bed, he glared at the ceiling.

'Fine. What the heck should I do?'

" **Well, for starters, there's a decent energy source that's preeetty similar to chakra not too far away. A few miles south, I suppose. And some malicious energies closing in on it, to boot."**

'...This isn't over. We'll talk more about your situation later.'

Huffing, Naruto jumped off the bed, tugging at his hospital gown. "But first, I'm getting myself some orange to wear. And ramen..."

..

Ruby zipped around her room, stuffing things into her already-full bag, the rose petals trailing behind her evidencing her shameless usage of her Semblance.

"Woah, kid, what're you up to?" Taiyang chuckled, leaning casually against the doorframe. Their pet dog, Zwei, barked cheerily as he bounced into the room, tongue wagging.

Gleefully, he jumped into Ruby's open arms, who giggled as he licked her face, sitting down on her bed.

"School doesn't start until the end of the week, y'know…" Taiyang remarked, making the redhead to look up at her father. "Besides... "

He trailed off, making Ruby tilt her head.

"Besides…?" she prompted, ignoring the first statement in favor of her curiosity.

Sighing, the father walked to sit down next to his daughter, tussling her hair despite her protests. Smiling sadly, he explained. "While this is truly, a great accomplishment, and I'm very proud of you… Are you sure you want to go?"

When he saw that Ruby looked affronted, he held up a hand placatingly. "Don't take this the wrong way, it's just that, well… You're advancing _two years_ , Ruby. There won't be any of your old friends, or anyone your age there. Have you really considered this?"

Ruby set down Zwei before looking down at her fidgeting hands, her gaze softening. "I _have_ thought about this… but I'm trying not to… I really, _reaaaaally_ want to do this, but I don't want to leave my friends. Yang's starting this year, and I want to fight by her side, but I'm not sure if I can."

She sighed, her shoulders slumping, before looking up at her father hopefully.

"Tell me what to do, Dad?" she asked pleadingly, making him scratch the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I can't tell you what to do, Ruby. That's something only you can decide."

Taiyang patted her on the back, before getting up and heading for the door.

"But now this. I have complete faith in you. I know your mother does, too."

Ruby frowned, flopped onto her bed, and stared at the ceiling.

'What should I do…'

..

Naruto looked himself over again, nodding to himself as he stood in an empty alleyway.

He wore open-toed sandals and some black jeans, along with a mesh shirt- god, that one was hard to find- beneath a black t-shirt. He also had on a simple black jacket with orange solidly covering the lower half, as well as accenting the lines and borders. Naruto clenched and unclenched his fist, testing the new fingerless gloves, decorated with a small plate of metal on the backside. A longer piece of cloth turned Naruto's forehead protector into a belt, looped around his waist, a few belt pouches attached to it as it hung on his waist.

All of this new clothing was borrowed, of course, as Naruto had no money. He just... neglected to inform the owners of said clothing...

Grinning, the blond tucked the necklace he'd won from Tsunade all those years ago behind his shirt, before stretching.

'Kurama, how long do you think we have?' Naruto asked, striding out of the alley, hands laced behind his head.

Kurama's eye twitched. " **They've already engaged in combat…"**

'What?! Why didn't you tell me?'

" **I did."**

Grumbling under his breath, Naruto channeled his remaining chakra to his feet, literally became a blur as he rushed off. Within moments, he was out in the countryside, noting the slight fog as he followed Kurama's directions.

Soon enough, he heard the telltale sounds of battle, along with lightning and explosions. Cool.

Quickening his pace, he arrived at a large, open plain with a single road that had fences on one side.

He stepped to the side as a horse rushed by, frowning.

A girl with brown hair was floating in the air, facing a black-haired girl as the latter stretched out her hand, forming projectiles of… something, that blasted her onto the road. Capitalizing on the opening, she and two others regrouped, before running towards the brunette.

Quickly, Naruto formed his signature attack, jumping into the air.

"Rasengan!" Naruto called out, smashing the sphere into the ground as he landed right between the two parties.

The effect was instantaneous; dust all but erupted from the well-trodden gravel, creating a smokescreen and making all four of them cough.

Pleased with the results, Naruto grabbed the brunette's arm, running out of the dust cloud and into the forest.

This all happened in a blur, and Naruto and the unknown brunette were hidden a few yards into the foliage. Both of their breaths were slightly labored, the blond frowning at his unexpected tiredness.

Shaking his head slightly, he turned to the brown-haired girl, letting go of her arm.

"...Is there a reason you're glaring at me?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"...I could've handled them…" she mumbled, her glare lessening a bit.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, and shrugged. "Whatever you say, miss…"

"Amber." she told him. "My name is Amber. What's yours?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." he replied, jabbing towards his chest with a thumb, before peeking around the tree they were hiding behind. "Any idea why they were after you?"

"My powers." was the simple answer.

"Such as?" Naruto pressed, his eyes still focused on the trio on the road. "Apart from flying?"

Amber seemed reluctant to answer the blond, opting to look at her assailants as well. "Be careful, the one with green hair can create illusions, and the silver-haired one has mechanical feet. The last one seems to be the leader… she uses fire, I think."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgement, before tensing.

"...Someone else is coming. And fast."

Amber frowned, as did Naruto, who narrowed his eyes before reaching out to Kurama.

'What do you think? Is it an enemy or ally?'

Kurama smacked his lips, yawning. " **It's an ally. More importantly, that girl behind you. It's the chakra source."**

'She's not an it' Naruto chided. 'And, what do you mean?'

" **Nature energy is literally coming off of her in waves. Can you not feel it, brat?"**

Naruto's frown deepened. 'Sage Mode's been… off since we came here…'

Kurama grunted, but said nothing else in reply, making Naruto mentally sigh before cutting off the connection.

As he did so, a gray blur smashed into the ravenette, sparks flying as the gray blur's greatsword clashed with the dual blades that the ravenette wielded. He seemed to say something to his opponent, who responded with an answer that appeared to piss him off.

"I know that man!" Amber exclaimed, making Naruto nod. They watched as the man disengaged from the bladelock, before swinging his weapon horizontally. The two females managed to jump out of the way, but the silver-haired one wasn't so lucky, instead choosing to block with his arms in an X shape, skidding backwards.

Unfortunately, he quickly recovered, running to exchange blows with the man as the two others provided cover fire.

Growling, Naruto ran towards the battle, noting that Amber was not far behind.

Creating a Rasengan again, he charged at the closest opponent; the ravenette. She was proven to be spatially aware, unfortunately, as she quickly nocked and fired an arrow at Naruto, making him jump to the side, and essentially stopping the charge.

Unperturbed, Naruto added the wind element to his attack, before launching it at his foe.

"Fuuton: Rasenshuriken!"

The attack easily cleaved through both arrows and bullets from his two opponents, the silver-haired one still preoccupying the man dressed in gray.

The black-haired one frowned, jumping out of the way of the attack, the green-haired girl following suit.

Their eyes widened as the attack collided with the dirt, subsequently exploding, violently tearing away at everything within a five-meter radius. Naruto winced at the overuse of his already limited chakra, feeling traces of exhaustion already.

Thankfully, Amber decided to follow up with one of her own attacks, sending large gusts of wind after the two. The attack blew away the other two, but didn't seem to have any real effect otherwise.

The ravenette shared a look with the mint-haired girl, who nodded and turned her slightly glowing eyes at the man in gray, who was soundly beating the silver-haired boy.

For some reason, the man's attacks started to miss, allowing the teen with mechanical legs to land a solid hit before turning to his teammates.

"We're retreating." the ravenette called out, receiving nods from the other two.

The trio seemed to freeze in place, making Naruto narrow his eyes. Picking up a rock, he tossed it at one of them, only for it to phase right through.

"Damn!" he muttered in realization. "An illusion..."

Amber scowled, before turning to the other person. "Qrow. Why are you here?"

'Qrow' grunted, getting to his knees slowly as he dusted himself off.

"Oz assigned me to look after you." he explained. "Who's your friend?"

Amber sighed at being treated like a child, before turning to introduce the blond… that wasn't there.

"...Where'd he go?"

..

Naruto was leaning against a nearby tree, frowning at his trembling fingers. He closed his eyes, hoping to sense his chakra core…

It was there, but… It was dimmed. Incredibly so, that he wouldn't even had believed it to be there if it weren't for Kurama assuring him that it was indeed there.

Raising a hand to rub his forehead, he sighed deeply. 'This… What can we do about it, Kurama?'

The demon fox tilted his head in thought. " **...This might be risky, but maybe you can try to activate Sage Mode while that girl is nearby. It might give us something to go on."**

'And just why is it risky?' Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

" **You know how you turn into a frog if you aren't attuned to the nature energy?"** Kurama asked, receiving a nod. " **Well, we don't know if you're attuned to this nature energy. I said it was similar, but the effects aren't necessarily the same."**

Naruto frowned, but nodded again nonetheless. 'Got it.'

Sighing, he sat down and crossed his feet, closing his eyes in meditation. His eyes soon began glowing… streams of yellow-orange light spreading from his eyes, almost akin to wings...

..

Qrow Branwen frowned as Amber, the current Fall Maiden- though they had just come dangerously close to the end of that- look for someone with blond hair and powerful abilities. Not only that, but also an effective disappearing act, it seemed.

Qrow had only been able to see glimpses of the blond before, surprisingly, having to focus on the silver-haired kid. He'd just returned from a rather tiresome mission from Ozpin, and ran all the way here, so a bit of tiredness was acceptable.

...He had also been a bit preoccupied with beating the crap out of his opponent, so sue him.

Sighing, he sipped his drink, alcohol from a flask he always kept on his waist.

This is either going to be of no importance whatsoever, or it's going to bite him in the ass later on. And with his Semblance, well… there really was no doubt.

..

Pyrrha Nikos covered her eyes with one hand as she looked out into the distance.

The sun was bright, high in the sky as the train Pyrrha was riding on rumbled on. The train was taking her to Vale, or, more specifically, to Beacon.

It wasn't her first time leaving Mistral, she did that plenty of times competing in fighting tournaments worldwide, but it's the first time she did so without the intention of coming back.

She knew that those in Mistral weren't overly comfortable with… her, and she couldn't blame them. She wouldn't.

She sighed, shaking the memories of whispers and hidden glances out of her mind. She was here for one reason, and one reason only!

And that was to make friends!

...She sighed again, slumping forwards in her seat at how sad her goal sounded, to her. Still, she was going to do it!

Eyes brimming with hope, she smiled softly as she listened to the mechanical thumping of the engines as the train pushed on, quickly spanning the distance to Vale. To her new life.

..

 _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee._

The words presented themselves in Naruto's mind, and as he spoke them aloud, he felt the remnants of his power fading away.

Slowly, a new power filled his body, though Naruto can already feel it filling his body to the brim. He had just as much of this new power, it seemed, as he had chakra. Not counting Kurama's aid, of course.

'...Huh.' Naruto thought, mildly surprised. 'This new power… Aura… is a lot weaker than chakra… but at least I can replenish it. What do you think, Kurama?'

Naruto frowned when he received no response in return, before thinking back to earlier.

'Kurama, I already said, this isn't funny. Where are you?'

Naruto's frown deepened.

'Kura-'

" **Shut it, brat"** Kurama muttered, so faintly it was hard for Naruto to hear. " **My power is waning sooner than I expected. When you linked yourself to the natural energy I used your body as a conduit to... preserve myself temporarily."**

Naruto blinked in confusion.

Kurama sighed. " **Basically, I'm going dormant. I won't be able to respond or react until we reach a place where I can restore my chakra."**

Naruto nodded in understanding.

" **...Good. See you around, brat."**

'See you around, you damn fox.'

Naruto smiled widely, and Kurama's chuckle in response slowly faded.

'I'm sorry Naruto.' Kurama whispered. His eyelid fluttered, struggling to stay open as he laid his head down in Naruto's mindscape. 'I lied...'

..

 **Um… Hope you enjoyed. It's past midnight when I wrote this, so… apologies if my writing gets a tad sloppy near the end.**

 **Also in case you don't get it, Kurama's a goner. He did leave Naruto a present though...**


	3. Preparing for Beacon

**AN: So I'm stuck between doing Naruto x Pyrrha or Naruto x Neo… And I don't like multiple pairings… It makes things get messy…**

 **I've watched Vol. 5… Not RT's greatest moment. They stood there like ducks half the fight… Ugh. Pluz Oscar was able to… Oops, spoilers.**

 **Right now I'll just make Naruto know a bunch of girls and you can decide later.**

 **A nice song that might fit with the theme I'm trying to get at in this story might be Lifelight, the Super Smash Ultimate Theme. It's pretty upbeat, and the 'Colors weave into a spire of flame' as well as references to a distant past and flames… Well, you'll see.**

 **Also I just went back to watch Episode 1 and realized an inconsistency for my story. The tattoo Cinder gained** _ **after**_ **stealing Amber's powers was already on her back, thus making my timeline null… I was hoping that, since Ozpin acted like Amber's preservation wasn't going to last long, that she hasn't been in that state for too long either. Oh well, this** _ **is**_ **a fanfiction… Another mistake I made, was Pyrrha sitting on a train. Anima (the continent of Mistral) and Sanus (the continent of Vale) are separated by water, which wouldn't make sense for a train to cross that… Pretend it was a boat? Please?**

 **One last thing! I just finished both Volume 5** _ **and**_ **World of Remnant, and realized there may be a few inconsistencies between those and the lore I have planned for this story… So I'll either start editing mine or change it completely, or a mix of the two. I'll start working on that… The lore will come out next chapter. Maybe I'll take a look at the manga, too. I can't find Volume 6 though, any tips?**

 **Aaaaand that's the longest Author's Note I've written so far. I try to keep em brief, not this time it seems.**

..

Naruto frowned as he walked down the street, somewhere in the commercial district. At least, he thinks that's where he is, what with the stores and everything.

. After he bid his farewell to Kurama, he delved into his mindscape in hopes of finding the seal Kurama mentioned, but ended with nothing to show for his efforts. And by the time he exited his meditating state, it was noon and Amber and the gray-wearing man had left. Qrow, was it?

Thus Naruto had headed back to the city, and upon doing so, realized he had no place to sleep.

Groaning, Naruto ran a hand through his hair, which was now free from the hitai-ate he usually wore. He didn't feel much remorse for stealing his new clothes, given how the clerk glared at him upon his entrance, but to stay under someone else's roof for a night was different.

Idly, he noted the stares he received, as well as the glares. Sure, he was a little scuffed up from their earlier fight, but he didn't look that bad, right?

'Which reminds me... ' Naruto thought, rubbing his chin as he continued walking aimlessly. 'They all had weapons… kinda. Do metal legs count…?'

Before his thoughts could get too off track, he resumed his thought process. 'And since I don't have chakra anymore, maybe I should get a weapon until I master this new… energy. Maybe I can replicate the Rasengan.'

Nodding to himself with a grin, Naruto stuffed his hands back in his pockets, taking his stomach rumbling as a sign to start looking for food. Then again he, he didn't have money…

Naruto waved this off and resumed his stroll. However, this peace didn't last long.

"PANCAKES!"

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto tilted his head backwards to gaze into the window of a restaurant he just passed.

Inside, an orange haired girl was sitting at a stool, fork and knife in her hands. She was dressed in a pink skirt and white top with a small heart in the fabric, an unzipped black jacket with pink accents and a red underside over it. She was the one who had shouted, judging by the fervor with which she awaited the food, pancakes.

The boy that sat beside her had black hair tied in a ponytail, a streak of magenta running just next to his left eye. He wore a green, long-sleeved tailcoat with black straps accented with gold, and white pants below it.

 _(Basically the clothes they wear in the beginning)_

"Nora, calm down." the boy said. "It's very late, it's only normal that they don't have pancakes on hand right now."

The newly identified Nora pouted. "What do you mean, Ren? They should always serve pancakes! Never underestimate the awesomest food ever!"

Ren sighed, deciding it best not to argue with his hyperactive friend, choosing instead to look outside the window, raising an eyebrow as he saw Naruto.

They stared at each other for a good minute, before Naruto shrugged awkwardly, moving to the door and entering, sitting down next to Ren.

"..." The two sat in silence as Nora took no notice of the newcomer.

"So…" Naruto started, wanting to make conversation. "You're friend… likes pancakes?"

Ren opened his mouth to answer, but was drowned out as Nora enthusiastically agreed, her head popping up in front of the black-haired teen's.

"Yeah, totally! Pancakes are awesome, who doesn't like them?" Nora exclaimed, her eyes gleaming. "And all that syrup…"

Naruto sweatdropped as Ren calmly moved Nora's head from in front of him, before nodding in confirmation to the blond's question.

"So, what're you doing here in Vale?" Ren asked, noting his combat-oriented clothes. "Are you here to attend Beacon?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I'm guessing you are too?"

Ren smiled and nodded as well. "Yes. My name is Lie Ren, and my companion is Nora Valkyrie. What is yours?"

Naruto beamed, glad for any friend he might make. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, pleased to meet you!"

The blond stuck out a hand, and the two shook hands.

"You ordering anything?" a man dressed in an apron asked, grunting as he set down a… sizable plate of pancakes in front of an eager Nora.

Naruto turned to face the man, scratching his cheek. He noted the way the man's eyes flicked to his whiskers and hardened, but remained silent.

"Yeah… Sorry, but I'm broke right now." Naruto replied, smiling sheepishly.

The person frowned. "If you're not buying, then get out."

"Now now, isn't that a bit rude?" Naruto asked placatingly, smiling stiffly. Mentally, though, he was screaming murder.

"Out. Now."

The man reached for a broom that rested against the wall, making Naruto frown as he left his seat.

"Yeah, whatever." the blond grumbled as he headed for the door. Pausing at the door, he turned and stuck out a tongue childishly. "Never wanted to eat in such a dingy place anyways!"

"Why, you-!"

Naruto laughed as he spun out of the restaurant, waving goodbye to Nora and Ren as he did so.

Ren looked turned around to look at the enraged shop owner, then at the orange-haired teen who was stuffing her face with pancakes. Sharing a silent conversation the two nodded, Nora stuffing the last of her food into her mouth and swallowing as they rose from their seats.

Ren put a few Lien cards onto the table to pay for Nora's food, before leaving the store as well, jogging to catch up with the blond from before.

They were more than surprised to see the blond with a bottle of orange spray paint stuck to the side of the building, a pancake in his mouth.

The duo stared at him, and he stared back, before swallowing the food with an audible gulp.

"...Hey, what's up?"

"How'd you get on the wall?!" Nora yelled enthusiastically, jumping in place. "Is it your Semblance?"

Ren noted that Nora's exclamation started drawing the attention of others in the street, though how Naruto hadn't done so already, he had no idea.

Naruto, for his part, furrowed his eyebrows. "Semblance? What's that?"

..

Emerald and Mercury watched with wide eyes as Cinder paced the room, sparks of fire popping in and out of existence as the female stewed over the cause of her anger.

Cinder grimaced as she thought back to how close she was to the power… The plan had been to engage the Maiden in a melee, since their magic wasn't as effective that way, and they'd just disoriented her enough to engage, but then the blond came in…

He had supernatural speed, as nobody had even seen him emerge from the treeline before he smashed that attack on the ground… And there was the attack in and of itself, a sphere of pure energy. Not only that but he was also able to navigate silently within the dust, some kind of sensor? That would explain why he interrupted without pause, if the entire reason he was there in the first place was to combat them…

That was three abilities, two of them somewhat generic but not normally feasible without a Semblance or tool, especially not at the blond's presumed age! The only upside seemed to be that he was hesitant of fighting all three of them, and that he tired rather quickly.

Cinder's thoughts whirled as she tried to formulate a situation in which the blond would be disadvantaged, another part wondering how he had three abilities…

"What's got _her_ on edge?" a voice called out, and Mercury and Emerald turned to face Roman Torchwick, an orange-haired man lazily striding up to them, cane in hand as always.

Scoffing, Emerald turned back to face Cinder, who had yet to cease her pacing. Instead, Mercury answered with a shrug.

"Our little expedition hit a snag. Some blond idiot interrupted us right at the end." Mercury said, his face as carefree as always.

"Well, that can't be good." Roman stated, albeit with no sign of being distraught at this news. In fact, he was rather pleased that someone kicked Cinder off her high horse, not that he was fool enough to tell her that.

He turned around to hide his smirk, waving a hand in goodbye as he left the room. Briefly, he wondered where his heterochromatic companion had gone off to, before shrugging it off.

Neo can take care of herself. He had a job to do.

Grumbling, he shot a glance at his… boss. Cinder.

She had the capability of eliminating both him and Neo if she wished, and had informants everywhere. He wouldn't go down without a fight, but if Neo died…

Anyone with the power to make her this wary was someone to keep an eye on. Maybe he'll be able to slip away from, or outright decimate Cinder if he was lucky.

But first, he'll have to make contact.

..

Naruto yawned, scratching his cheek..

It had been a week since he'd left the hospital, and he had done pretty well with what he had on hand. He found a few part-time jobs and a good ramen stand, plus he had no trouble with sleeping outdoors, and he washed his clothes in a nearby stream.

And, finally, today was the day for the Academy to start.

Personally, he still had some misgivings about going to school, of all things, but it was the best way to obtain information. How to use this new power, and how to return to the Elemental Nations.

If he couldn't…

Shaking away his thoughts, Naruto bent down and gathered the small belongings he had. Nothing much, just his clothes and a few keepsakes from his world, plus a futon.

Having packed everything into a small backpack he had found, Naruto stood up and stretched, grinning as he felt the breeze on his cheek.

Taking a few steps back, his grin turned into a smirk, as he ran towards the edge of the roof, diving off without hesitation.

He had roughly one hour to reach his destination, where the 'airship' was to pick them up, which was on the other side of the city. A self-imposed challenge of sorts, though it was far too easy.

Over the week, he'd learned to manipulate this new 'aura' of his to a certain extent, but only in the case of strengthening his body.

The effect was about half as effective as chakra, but considering chakra enabled him to destroy mountains with ease before, it wasn't unreasonable. If he concentrated, he could even replicate the Rasengan, though no other Ninjutsu was possible.

Strangely enough, he also retained the ability to make Shadow Clones, and without hand signs!

Grinning, Naruto spun in midair so that he was parallel with the building, a rather tall skyscraper that didn't exist in the Elemental Nations, and planted a foot on it, and jumped away before he would come to a stop.

With incredible speed, he rocketed away from the building, spinning to look at his next foothold.

A perfectly identical clone poofed into existence next to him, grabbing his hand and swinging him towards a nearby roof, which cratered slightly upon his landing.

Without pause, he jumped to the next roof, and the next, nothing more than a blur as he sped across the city.

Ten minutes. That's how long it took for him to reach his destination, not even out of breath.

Frowning, he checked the time as he walked into the 'airdock', or whatever it's called. "Damn! I've gotten rusty. Then again, I haven't really trained recently… Maybe a good old workout is good."

"I see you're here early as well?" a voice called out, making Naruto raise an eyebrow.

Looking up, he saw it was a red-haired girl, probably his age, dressed in some strangely-styled armor. There was nothing like that back in his world. "Yeah. I assume you're going to Beacon as well? Name's Naruto."

The girl seemed surprised at something, which made Naruto raise an eyebrow, but he shrugged it off.

"Hello then, Naruto." she replied politely. "My name is Pyrrha Nikos, and I am indeed going to Beacon Academy."

Smiling, he nodded. "Nice to meetcha, Pyrrha. I look forward to attending Beacon with you."

"I feel the same." Pyrrha smiled, sensing no ill will from him. Most people either avoid her out of respect or fear, or have some hidden intention. Naruto had neither.

This bode well for the following school year.

..

"Ruby!" Taiyang yelled up the stairs. "The airship is here soon! Are you ready?"

A loud clatter was the response, followed by a series of loud footsteps and thumps. After a moment of waiting, the father was rewarded when his daughter flew down the stairs in a storm of rose petals.

"Yup!" Ruby said, with a mock salute. "Let's go! I can't waiiiiiit!"

Taiyang chuckled and rubbed her head, making her pout. "All right, all right… But admit it, you were totally unprepared, weren't you."

"No I wasn't!" Ruby shouted indignantly, pouting again. "Anyways, let's go! Hurry, hurry!"

Taiyang chuckled as the two walked outside, and he started the car. "Gotcha. Still, I'm surprised you decided to go to Beacon. What made you decide to go?"

Ruby slid into the car, a thoughtful expression on her face. "When the headmaster offered me a chance to go to Beacon, he gave the same offer to someone else. A boy."

Taiyang raised an eyebrow. "I don't need to worry about chasing away any boys, do I?"

Ruby shook her head rapidly. Whether he knew it or not, her father was releasing trickles of killing intent. "N-no, not at all! It's just… this boy, he only had one arm. And even so, he still agreed to become a hunter, no hesitation! And if I can't do even that much, then do I really deserve to become a huntress when I graduate Signal?"

Taiyang didn't say anything for a moment, leaving Ruby to her thoughts. She looked out the window, frowning.

As they drove within sight of the pickup area, he broke the silence.

"I… don't know what Oz is doing, offering a disabled person to attend his school, but I trust him." he said slowly. Even so, he was going to have a talk with the man later. "But know that you have every right to become a huntress, whether you take this opportunity or not. You've worked hard, and you've no reason to compare yourself to anyone else."

"...Thanks, dad."

"Anytime." Taiyang smiled, slowing the vehicle to a stop. "Oh, and tell Yang I said hi."

Ruby mock-saluted again. "Yes, sir!"

Laughing, the blond shooed her out the car. "Now get going! It won't do for you to miss the airship!"

Grinning with newfound confidence, Ruby sped out in a flurry of petals, activating her Semblance again.

'Beacon, here I come!'

..

 **So… I didn't meet my 3k objective this time… Hope you enjoyed? YouTube sure is distracting. I went there for Semblance, background, and character research, and… well… yeah.**


	4. Welcome to Beacon

**AN: So, this chapter will reveal the backstory of this crossover, more than 'Naruto fell into a portal and ended up here'. For the record, NO ONE from Naruto's world will play a role here, with one exception. And that is only for the final fight. I hope you enjoy.**

 **On another note, I got a lot of requests asking for Naruto x Neo… I AM ONLY DOING ONE PAIRING. So y'all will have to vote for either Pyrrha or Neo to be best girl.**

 **I have it on a poll on my profile. It will be closed within one or two weeks.**

 **May the best girl win. XD**

 **Last thing. At the bottom of the chapter, you will find any inconsistencies between my lore and the lore from RWBY, which can be found in The World of Remnant, and Volume 4, Chapter 8. Enjoy.**

..

High in the sky, a large airship drifted across the blue expanse separating the island of Patch, and the kingdom of Vale. It was carrying the students that have graduated from Signal earlier this year, to Beacon. One of which, was no older than 15.

Ruby jumped in place excitedly as she leaned against the windows of the airship, giving her a breathtaking view of the world below.

The airship itself was heading towards the mainland, to pick up the students in the city, as well as those transferring from the different kingdoms. Yang was of the former, having spent the majority of the summer in the city, searching for leads on her mother.

Frowning at the thought, Ruby stopped her jumping and pulled out a small picture her father had given her before departing, as a memento of sorts.

It was faded and gray, but the people on it were unmistakable. On the left, was her Uncle Qrow, looking… pretty much the same, down to the outfit. Then a raven-haired woman with samurai-like armor and a sword. Next to her was her father, Taiyang, leaning against a tree.

And also leaning on the tree, was… Summer Rose. Her mother.

Blinking away a few tears that threatened to leak out, she studied the picture intensely.

Her mom was just as she remembered, a white cloak and skirt, red-black hair, and a smirk.

The raven-haired woman was Raven, Taiyang had told her. Her hairstyle was just like Yang's, and her outfit's color scheme matched with her hair and eyes, a mixture of red and black. Raven Qrow.

Folding it neatly and tucking it back into her pocket, she placed a hand on the glass.

"I wonder what you're doing, Yang…"

..

"Achoo!"

Yang rubbed her nose with one hand as she exited the building she was in, frowning at her progress. Junior had claimed to know nothing about her mother, so she had tried to shake the information out of him. As it turns out, he actually knew nothing.

Who would've thought.

Absentmindedly, she checked her scroll, but her eyes widened when she realized what time it was.

"Shoot! I'm almost late for the pickup!" Yang exclaimed, hurrying to her bike.

Quickly, the blond drove away, already forgetting about the event she had just started.

Behind her, the building known as Junior's Bar creaked loudly, before finally giving in, collapsing from the aftermath of Yang's rampage.

Meanwhile, Yang was speeding through the traffic rapidly, swerving this way and that until she reached the designated location, five minutes later.

Skidding to a stop, Yang took off her sunglasses with a grin.

"Yo!"

..

"Yo!"

Naruto and Pyrrha halted their conversation as they heard the yell, turning to look at the newcomer.

"Hello, Miss…?" Pyrrha replied, hinting for them to introduce themselves.

"Yang." The girl grinned, jabbing a thumb to her chest. "Yang Xiao Long. You're Pyrrha Nikos, right?"

Reluctantly, Pyrrha nodded. Naruto, however, noticed her uncomfortableness and decided to pull some attention off of her.

He stepped forward, "My name is Naruto. Pleased to meet you."

"Same!" Yang hopped off her bike, and held out a hand to shake.

"..."

Sweatdropping, Naruto motioned toward his missing limb with his arm, raising the sleeve up to his forearm. Before, one could be under the illusion that it was there, since the sleeve hung downwards, covering the area the arm would have occupied.

"...Ah… Sorry…"

To say Yang was surprised was an understatement. Quickly she retracted her arm and offered her other, rubbing the back of her head with a sheepish smile.

"S-sorry… Hehe…" the blond felt awkward, making the boy bring up his lost limb. Even she felt like a bit like a jerk, doing that.

Pyrrha shifted uneasily, having been unaware of his lost arm. They'd been talking for almost 45 minutes with little pause, and she'd never even noticed it. Some interesting topics had come up, but that was no excuse to be so… unwary.

Still, she was glad that she wasn't the one who brought it up.

Noticing their awkwardness, waved them off.

"Hey, don't worry about it." he told the two, smiling. "What's done is done, no use dwelling on the past, right?"

His smile was infectious, as they both found their lips curling upwards as they mumbled in agreement.

'He's pretty nice…' Yang thought, her eyes darting to the teen's lost arm in curiosity. 'I don't know what I'd do if something like that happened to me…"

Frowning, the blond rubbed her own arm self-consciously.

The three stood there in silence for a few minutes. Naruto was smiling awkwardly after they didn't respond, Pyrrha dwelling on how Naruto lost his arm, and Yang was wondering why Naruto was here despite losing an arm.

Soon enough, the 'whoosh' of an airship broke the two out of their thoughts and saved Naruto from having to smile any longer. His cheeks were starting to hurt.

The Naruto and Pyrrha started chatting again as they entered the decent-sized line to board the airship, Yang joining in as she added her own two cents on their topic.

In the end, Naruto was telling a story from his past to his new friends as they boarded, making them all laugh humorously.

"-and even after all that, Shikamaru just ended up resigning, saying he ran out of cha- err, aura!"

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, noting his slip-up. "You've done that a few times now. Why do you call Aura, chakra?"

Naruto rubbed his the back of his head awkwardly. "W-well, where I come from, that's what we call Aura. Always have. Why is Aura called that, anyways?"

The redhead thought about his question curiously. It was, by all means, a good question; they used Aura in their everyday lives, yet no one knew why it was called that, or how it even came to be.

"Well…" she said slowly, piquing the interest of the two blonds. "I can't say for certain, but there are fairy tales about it. Like the silver-eyed warriors, the origin of Grimm, and the four maidens."

Yang nodded in agreement. "I know about that. My sis loves fairy tales. She believes all of them are interconnected, like a giant web of myths. There's a few variations here and there, but it's pretty much all the same."

Seeing Naruto was invested in her idea, Pyrrha continued.

"A long, long time ago, there were two brothers; the elder was of darkness, and the younger, of light. The elder created forces of destruction, while the younger found joy in creating forces of destruction.

After countless disputes, they eventually joined forces to create something equal parts light and dark, something they could both be proud of. Their masterpiece. Humanity was created with the ability to choose: the Path of Light, and the Path of Darkness. A millenia passed, and it was said the two descended to the world, ever in the cycle of reincarnation.

Hundreds of thousands of years later, they entered two souls, brothers in all but blood, found themselves on opposites sides of the paths, farther down than anyone ever before. They grew stronger over the years, until their strength rivaled that of the original brothers. One hoped for peace and love, the other for revenge and bloodshed.

Then, calamity struck. An ancient evil the two brothers had sealed away for a millenia returned, raining down chaos from its prison in the moon. The two brothers, united, lead humanity against this evil, but it was all for naught. Even beings of legend, such as the silver-eyed warriors, could not hope to stand against this power, as it had summoned forces of its own, a primal, more dangerous kind of Grimm, and was heralded by a powerful masked man.

In the end, the final confrontation between the two reincarnated brothers and the one trapped in the moon began, cleaving oceans and splitting mountains with their avatars. The reincarnation of light was a mountainous, golden fox, the reincarnation of darkness wielded an armored, purple giant, and the being from the moon drew power from a giant tree, which touched the sky and drained the vitality of the earth itself.

After fighting for many days and nights, the brothers of light and darkness used the last of their power to bless the two, halting their cycle of reincarnation. With this power, they finally defeated their foe, and resealed it back into the moon.

However, when they returned from their battle, the reincarnation of the brother of darkness looked upon the forces of mankind, and saw evil. Thus, he sought revolution. To clean the slate, and start anew. He wished for destruction.

The reincarnation of light believed in the good in humanity, however, and stopped him. The two found themselves at odds, and with heavy hearts, began their battle anew, but this time between each other.

At the climax of their battle, they agreed to one, final strike. The victor was to be decided by the outcome, but… both lost. In seeing their weakened states in the aftermath of the collision, the being in the moon had initiated a final act of revenge. One brother, having lost an arm and weakened, was destroyed by what we now know as Grimm, and the other was never seen again.

That was the end of that era, or so they say.

The power these people wielded faded as an era of peace reigned throughout the land, just like the last brother of light wished. The eight mythical beasts also slowly lost their power, and, feeling pity for them, the teacher of the two reincarnations stored away their power, vowing to protect them forevermore.

The fairy tales go on to say that one of his descendants was the old wizard from the Tale of Four Maidens, passing the power that had been passed on as a family heirloom onto four maidens he trusted, as thanks for showing him for reopening his eyes to the wonders of the world.

But peace only lasts for so long. When the moon had taken her revenge, it had cracked, leading people to believe that there were no threats. But they were wrong.

When the moon cracked, the one in the moon had perished, yes, but her minions, the Grimm, were released. Biding their time, they waited for the time to strike.

And when that time came, humanity was unable to call on the power they once held, instead summoning a diluted form of it, now named Aura. Wi-"

"YANG!"

A flurry of red interrupted Pyrrha as it tackled Yang in a hug. Pyrrha looked surprised, while Naruto was still deep in thought.

"There were some inconsistencies, but… It can't be…" Naruto thought aloud in a murmur, as though convincing himself. However, if there was one thing he learned over the war, it was that there were no coincidences.

"Ruby?" Yang called out, looking at her sister, who was latched onto her. "What're you doing here? You didn't sneak onto the ship, did you?"

Ruby pouted at the accusation, sticking her tongue as she stepped back. "No, meanie. I was moved up two years!"

Yang stared at Ruby in silence for a few minutes, before squealing.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me!" she exclaimed, hugging her so tightly Ruby could've sworn she heard a few ribs crack. "This is the best day ever!"

"Please stop." she whimpered.

Smiling at the two's antics, Pyrrha decided to leave the two alone for their reunion, and turned to her blue-eyed companion. "Naruto, is everything alright? You seem… troubled."

"Hm?" Naruto's eyes snapped up to the red head, and grinned. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm fine… About that fairy tale, is there anything else you haven't mentioned? Anything at all?"

Pyrrha frowned. Clearly, there was something weighing heavily on his mind, but she wouldn't push. However, the least she could do is try to ease his burden.

"No, not that I'm aware of." she replied. Biting her lip, she considered her next words. "...But what about you? This all seems… shocking to you. I won't pry, but you can always come to me if you need help, alright?"

Naruto looked at her with wide eyes, before smiling softly. "Yeah. Thanks, Pyrrha-chan!"

"Anytime." Pyrrha replied, smiling as well. '...What does 'chan' mean?'

..

Weiss Schnee was not a patient girl. She enjoyed perfection, that things happened when they were supposed to happen, how they were supposed to happen.

As such, when a young girl with red-black hair knocked over her luggage right in front of Beacon Academy, to say she was displeased was putting it mildly.

"What are you doing!?" she yelled at the girl.

Ruby pulled herself up from the pile of suitcases partially burying her. "Ugh… Sorry."

"Sorry?" Weiss repeated in exasperation. "Do you have any idea the damage you could've caused? Gimme that!"

Groaning, Ruby lifted one of the suitcases up to the white-haired girl, who opened it swiftly.

"This is Dust, mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry." Weiss explained her luggage, unknowingly adding to Ruby's headache and confusion. Taking out a bottle, she began shaking it for effect. "What are you, brain dead? Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!"

The Dust sprinkled into the air, as the bottle was loosened due to the earlier collision.

"Ah…"

"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in?"

"Aaaah…"

"What do you have to say for yourself!?"

"ACHOO!"

Ruby's sneeze caused a chain reaction, activating the Dust scattered in the air and creating a large explosion that rocked the courtyard, finally alerting the blond that stood a few feet away, gazing at the sky, as well as a certain bow-wearing ravenette. The latter of which glanced down at the bottle of Dust that clattered to her feet, raising an eyebrow.

"Unbelievable!" Weiss yelled again, covered in ash. "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

Ruby poked her fingers together nervously. "I'm really, really sorry!"

"Ugh! You complete dolt!"

"Chill, Princess." a male voice said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "She said she was sorry, so let it be."

Weiss spun on her heel, glaring at the person who laid a hand on her shoulder, trying but failing to swat away said hand. "And who might you be?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." he replied, before brushing her off and walking past her, offering a hand to help Ruby up. "Need help, Red?"

"Ah, thanks…" Ruby muttered, gasping as she recognized the blond. "Naruto? You came!"

Naruto sweatdropped, nodding. "Yep. I was chatting with your sis until you came and tackled her. I was going to introduce myself when you finished, but then Vomit Boy came along and… Well, Yang happened. You really didn't notice me?"

Eyes widening, Ruby took the hand and stood up. "No, I never realized you were there. You were talking with Yang?"

Naruto nodded, opening his mouth to speak.

However, he was interrupted as the heiress cut in, a tick mark on her forehead.

"Hey, don't ignore me! And what are you even doing here?" Weiss pointed at Ruby questioningly. "Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"W-well, I…" Ruby started, but Weiss was having none of it.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know." Weiss said, cutting her off. "We're here to fight monsters, so watch where you're going."

"This isn't the place for brats, either, Princess." Naruto quipped, drawing Weiss's attention away from Ruby, much to the cloaked girl's relief.

"It's Heiress, actually." a black-haired girl wearing a bow corrected, walking up to the group. "Weiss Schnee,-"

"Bless you."

The three girls paused as they looked at the sole boy in their group, who raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Naruto asked, confused. Why were they all looking at him? He was just being polite!

Seeing his genuine confusion, the new girl snorted, while Ruby outright burst out laughing. Weiss, on the other hand, was downright pissed.

"Naruto?" another voice called out. "Who are all these people? And why's there so much luggage?"

Naruto turned around happily. "Pyrrha! Have you found out where we're supposed to go, yet?"

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, a smile hinting at the corner of her lips as she assessed the situation behind the blond. Ruby was rolling on the floor, still laughing, while the black-haired girl held a hand over her mouth, struggling to contain her laughs. A white-haired girl- Weiss, she remembered- was glaring daggers at Naruto.

"...I asked first." she said, grinning.

Naruto smirked, and nodded in approval. "Alright. But it's a bit of a long story. Why don't we talk on our way to wherever we're supposed to go?"

Pyrrha pouted. "In the end, I still have to answer first, don't I?"

"Yep."

..

 **Okay! So, here are the inconsistencies between the lores!**

 **My Story VS Naruto:**

 **-Never talked about creation of humanity.**

 **-Hagoromo and Hamura sealed Kaguya, not Indra and Asura.**

 **-Technically Tobi (Obito) never knew about Kaguya.**

 **-Sasuke's reasons slightly differ.**

 **-Indra and Asura's cycles never stopped.**

 **-Hagoromo gave Sasuke and Naruto power, not Indra and Asura.**

 **My Story VS RWBY:**

 **-Grimms were from Brother of Darkness, not Kaguya.**

 **-Brother of Light was older, not younger than Brother of Darkness.**

 **-No one knows why the moon shattered.**

 **-Origin of Aura was never explained in canon.**

 **-Power of Four Maidens didn't originally come from the Bijuu.**

 **Tell me if I missed anything, please!**

 **P.S. Can you guess the origin of the silver-eyed warriors? XD**


	5. I'M BACK!

**AN: LONG TIME NO SEE! Sorry for the wait, my grades were dropping a bit, and I had my hands full between some new anime and schoolwork. So hopefully it won't happen this semester and I can continue writing. On another note...**

 **IMPORTANT! I need a team name, something color themed like all other team**

 **names. Preferably a team with either Naruto or Pyrrha as leader. I had Team NNPR (Nephrite), but that doesn't sound too awesome. (Nephrite is a subcategory of Jade.) Ideas please! Also, Jaune will be there, mostly as a mob character though. Or comedy relief?**

 **Also, Pyrrha got 28 votes! (Neo got 12, Ruby 7. Rip) Therefore this is gonna be Naruto x Pyrrha, but if the poll ends up changing then I'll consider changing it.**

 **Note: On my profile, I said I was losing interest in RWBY. This is true. BUT! That only means I won't be watching Vol. 5 and beyond. I'll still continue this story, so please enjoy**

..

Naruto peered curiously into the forest below. Emerald Forest, he believe it was called.

Humming, he blocked out the voice of the headmaster as he tapped the platform he was standing on, raising an eyebrow at the hollowed sound. There was probably either something below it to propel them into the forest, or… nothing at all.

Frowning at the thought of a quite possibly uncomfortable drop to who-knows-where while essentially blind, Naruto decided it was the former.

Ah, right, this was an exam, wasn't it? Quickly, Naruto patted his pockets, hoping he had a weapon on him.

Nope.

All his kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, and smoke bombs had been used up sometime during the trip to Genbu, the Island Turtle, the subsequent training and escape, the Fourth Ninja War, the fight with Kaguya, or the fight with Sasuke.

In short, he hadn't restocked- or rested, for that matter- in a while…

Groaning, the blond looked to either side of him, hoping someone had something like a kunai, but to no avail.

To his left, a straggly-looking blond that he knew as Vomit Boy was… well, Vomit Boy, a simplistic-looking sword strapped to his waist. He didn't look like he belonged here, a nervous-looking boy in a group of teens trained in combat.

On the other hand, to his right, Ruby had a metallic object of some kind strapped behind her waist, looking shocked at something Ozpin had said. Something about partners at first sight?

Next to her, Yang had some gauntlets, then some weird armor-dude. Past him, Ren had assumed a battle pose with Stormflower, Nora had Magnhild on her back.

Even farther than that was a blond teen with a mohawk, Pyrrha, and the white-haired girl, Weiss something. The black-haired catgirl, Blake, was probably somewhere farther down.

The closest thing anyone had to something he was looking for was Ren, and that was still a far cry from a good ol' kunai.

Sighing, he reluctantly turned his attention to Ozpin; it happened to be the right course of action, as the man's words made Naruto's eyes gleam with mischief.

"Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

Naruto mentally cheered, but managed to reign in his expressions as Ozpin continued.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene." the gray-haired man said, coffee mug in hand. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Despite Jaune's protests, the headmaster continued without pause. "Good! Now, take your positions."

The row of teens assumed their stances, like figurines in a toy store. Naruto chuckled at the thought. Meanwhile, Jaune was still attempting to get the headmaster's attention.

Weiss, out of the people visible to him, was the first to fly off. Then Pyrrha, mohawk boy, so forth and so on. Jaune's voice raised in pitch as he began panicking.

Naruto yawned loudly, raising a hand to his mouth as his classmates rapidly flew off, with him being second to the end of the line.

When Yang shot off, he cracked his neck, and waved goodbye to Ruby right before she disappeared into the sky as well.

In the moments before he shot off, his eyes scanned the scenery a final time. Then he made eye contact with Ozpin.

He and the man stared at each other, time seemingly slowing down as they had a silent conversation.

The silence was then broken as Naruto flew up, joining the rest of his peers as they fell to the forest below.

Vaguely he heard a feminine-sounding voice screaming behind him as he disappeared into the distance.

..

Pyrrha held her shield out in front of her as she crashed through tree after tree, rolling seamlessly onto a branch and onto one knee, Milo transforming into her rifle. She peered through the scope in hopes of finding someone she knew, as well as a clue as to her objective.

Ruby, Weiss, and Naruto landed relatively close together, and Yang was still soaring through the sky as she repositioned herself with blasts from her weapon. She would land somewhere close to the black-haired girl from yesterday, probably. The energetic girl landed a bit behind the quiet boy. She'd met the two of them this morning, as Naruto enthusiastically greeted them with her in tow.

Satisfied with what she saw, she spun her weapon as it turned back into a Xiphos, a Greek-styled sword, as she jumped off the tree.

The only odd number of people was Naruto, Weiss, and Ruby's group. Out of the three, Weiss was a bit unapproachable, but she had good intentions. On the other hand Ruby was extremely cheerful and nice, once you got past her shyness.

Then there was Naruto. He was kind, patient, and tempered. Not only that, but his attitude about his dismemberment, and the fact that he was attending Beacon despite said lost limb spoke volumes of his character and abilities. Best of all, he didn't seem to know, nor care about her reputation.

It'd be… nice if she got him as her partner.

Landing on the ground with a thump, she held Akouo in front of her and Milo at the ready as she sprinted in their general direction. Red dusted her cheeks.

..

Naruto whooped as the wind roared in his ears, arms tucked to his side so that he was aerodynamic, using Aura for a more streamlined form. Looking around, he saw that everyone had already landed so he flipped in midair and halted his Aura manipulation.

This cut off the majority of his already dissipating velocity, enough for him to plant his feet onto a tree.

At least, that was the plan.

Apparently, he underestimated his velocity, and instead blew a hole in the large oak, as well as a few more trees behind said tree. Eventually, he reached the ground, his feet creating small trenches as he skidded to a stop.

Frowning, Naruto turned around to look at the accidental destruction. A good half dozen trees now had holes through them, lined up so Naruto could see the sky on the other side of the first tree from where he was standing.

Good thing his sandals had metal soles.

Shrugging, Naruto began walking, putting his hands behind his head and whistling.

'They said this forest was Grimm infested…' Naruto thought slowly. 'Maybe I'll get to fight some!'

Grinning widely, he continued on his way.

Soon enough, his ears perked up as a rustling in the bushes reached his ears. Quickening his pace, he pushed through the foliage to see…

Weiss.

The two stared at each other, before she pivoted 180, just as Ruby caught up to them.

"By no means does this make us friends." she muttered, hand latching onto the younger girl's hood and dragging her along.

Ruby, for her part, cheered with both hands in the air, letting herself be dragged along. "You came baaaaack!"

Naruto sweatdropped at the strange scene, but decided to let them go.

The duo reminded him of his younger days, when Sakura made it her job to teach him everything in the most vocal and violent way possible.

Ah, the days when all he had to worry about was paying for the destruction of walls and head trauma.

Slowly, his reminiscing came to an end as he walked in the opposite direction.

"Hmm… How do I get a partner, again?"

A few minutes later, a certain red-haired girl jogged through that very spot, wondering where everyone was.

Even later than that, Jaune Arc, better known as Vomit Boy, crashed into a tree, once again at that very spot. Groaning, he held his head as stars danced around his head.

..

"Helloooooooo? Is anyone out there?" Yang called out as she wandered the dense foliage. "Helloooooooo? I'm getting bored here."

The rustling of some bushes behind her made her turn around. "Is someone there? Ruby, is that you?"

She spread apart the bush, revealing…

"Nope."

She rolled out of the way as a large, bear-like Grimm bounded through the space she occupied previously, activating her gauntlets. Before she could attack, a second Ursa charged her, forcing her to evade again.

As the first Ursa attacked, she ducked under its swing and planted a solid punch into its chest, sending the monster flying backwards. She followed through by upercutting the second Grimm, and kicking it away.

"You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood, would you?"

As the Grimm roared in response, she bit back a quick remark and backflipped to avoid two consecutive swings.

"Jeez, you two couldn't hit the broad side of a-" Yang laughed, but her insult was cut short as a single, blond strand of hair fluttered down to the ground.

Then, her eyes turned red.

..

Naruto shuddered as a sudden feeling of impending doom. "This reminds me of Tsunade Baa-chan… but less drunk…"

It was a scary thought.

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto turned around as he sensed a presence. "Pyrrha?"

"Naruto!" Pyrrha exclaimed in surprise. "I suppose we're partners now."

"Is that how it works?" Naruto wondered aloud, tilting his head. "Maybe I should've paid attention to Oz…"

Pyrrha sweatdropped at his blatant admittance of how he ignored the headmaster. Shaking her head, she smiled. "Yes, Naruto. Perhaps we should head towards our objective?"

Naruto nodded in agreement, his signature grin in place. "Lead the way, Pyrrha!"

..

Ren skirted around the giant snake as he looked for an opening, firing with Stormflower.

The Grimm was an abnormally large King Taijitu, and the white and black scales seemed to be incredibly sturdy as it withstood Ren's onslaught.

The Taijitu launched its head at Ren, who jumped over it easily, firing at the Grimm as he let gravity take hold. As he did, he planted his twin blades into the head of the beast, pinning it to the ground.

However, a loud slithering alerted Ren to another danger, and jumped away just as a second head of the King Taijitu struck.

Grimacing, Ren stepped backwards as the twin-headed snake swirled around, hissing venomously. Using the same maneuver as before, Ren slid on the scales of the Grimm as he peppered it with shots.

However, the slippery nature of the scales that allowed him to slide on it so easily was a danger, as it prevented him from leaping away when one of the heads came in for another attack.

He was sent flying backwards, Stormflower flying from his hands.

Then, the other head struck.

Ren gritted his teeth as his Aura fought against the fangs of the snake, slowly advancing forwards. In a moment of inspiration, he released his Aura shield, and grabbed hold of the fangs before his opponent could react, and tore them out of the oversized snake's mouth.

Wailing in agony, the head came in for another attack, but Ren spun around the desperate attack, and planted the fang into the snake's eyes. Following up swiftly, he blasted the fang with an Aura-enhanced palm, blasting off the snake's head.

Without the first head, the second head was much easier, as Ren picked up Stormflower and leaped onto its face, pinning it to the ground like he had done the first time, before finishing it off.

Panting slightly, he slid his weapons back into his sleeves.

"Qraaaaw! Qraaaaaw!"

Turning around, Ren smiled at his childhood friend as Nora hung upside down from a branch. "Heh. I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like."

In return, Nora poked his nose.

"Boop."

..

Naruto and Pyrrha emerged from the forest relatively unscathed. They'd fought a few Grimm on their way, but they were easily dispatched. The duo was shockingly coordinated, able to cooperate and fight with minimal verbal communication during battle.

That being said, they still talked a lot. Chatting about this and that, they had eventually found themselves in front of a cave.

"Hmm…" Naruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, before turning to Pyrrha. "Think this is it?"

The redhead shrugged, a slight frown on her face. "I don't know… But we should check anyways. Just in case."

Nodding, Naruto raised a hand and cloaked it in Aura, making it take on a light blue hue as he proceeded into the cave, Pyrrha right behind him.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. This application of Aura, while not completely new, was very rarely used, as it was very Aura costly for such a menial task. In comparison, shielding yourself from a life-threatening attack was a much better use. She hummed in thought; this wasn't the first time she'd seen Naruto use his Aura for little things, having seen several gimmicks such as walking on trees and body strengthening during their walk through the forest.

While not unheard of, such fine-tuned use of Aura generally required lots of concentration, or a medium, such as Dust. From what she could tell, it definitely wasn't the latter…

Deep in thought, she nearly ran into Naruto before noticing that he had stopped walking. "Is something wrong, Naruto?"

"...Something doesn't feel right." Naruto muttered, narrowing his eyes. "Let's go back…"

Feeling the earth tremble slightly, Pyrrha murmured in agreement. Slowly, the two backed out of the tunnel slowly, but froze when a large, yellowish light appeared, hovering in the darkness.

Gulping slightly, Naruto charged up his hand with more Aura, revealing…

A big-ass, armored scorpion that looked three times larger than the tunnel it was in.

Which, coincidentally, was the tunnel they were in, too.

"...Shit."

The thought of reprimanding him didn't even cross Pyrrha's mind, deciding that it was better to hightail it out of there.

"Run, Naruto!" Pyrrha yelled, getting him to nod as the Deathstalker hissed in pain from the sudden light.

"Right behind you!" Naruto exclaimed. The two sprinted out of the cave, right before it exploded in an eruption of dust and stone. The Deathstalker screeched as it emerged from its home to chase after the two that woke it from its sleep. "Got a plan, Pyrrha-chan?"

Pyrrha put a hand to her chin, thinking as she ran, before tripping over a root. Instantly, Naruto had a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. "Thanks, Naruto. Anyways, the goal of the test isn't to defeat Grimm, but to obtain the relics, right?"

Eyes dawning in realization, he grinned. "A tactical retreat? I can get behind that."

Pyrrha nodded. "The cave was in the west, so we should probably head northeast for now. If worse comes to worse we can set up an ambush or team up with another group."

"You're the boss, Pyrrha-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, mock-saluting, until the Deathstalker burst past the trees with a roar.

Together, the redhead and the blond dashed through the foliage, in search of the ruins that were their objective.

..

 **So I cut this off short cuz I wanna have a good ol' fight to open up the next chap. Hope ya enjoyed!**


	6. The Emerald Forest

**AN: Long time no see! Thanks for the suggestions for team names!**

..

Two figures stood atop a hill, overlooking the Emerald Forest- infamous for its population of Grimm, as evidenced by the sounds of combat coming from it.

Glynda Goodwitch swiped her fingers across the small scroll in her hands as she examined the actions of her future students. "The last pair has been formed, sir; Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. Poor boy. I can't possibly imagine those two getting along."

Ozpin merely hummed in thought, showing neither signs of agreement nor refutal.

"And that boy you were interested in. Naruto Uzumaki." Glynda continued, swiping across the screen to show the aforementioned blond running from an abnormally large Deathstalker, carrying his redheaded partner in his arm. "He's incredibly strong and fast, but that could be attributed to being a faunus, like his whiskers suggest. I don't see why you're interested in him."

The gray-haired headmaster chuckled, taking another sip of his coffee. "Oh, I assure you, if my suspicions are correct, this might as well be the solution to all our problems."

The blond woman raised an eyebrow. "You really believe that he's strong enough to defeat _her_?"

"Perhaps… But only if he's who I suspect him to be."

"I guess we'll find out soon enough." Glynda sighed, closing her scroll. She turned around and began heading back to the school. "At their current pace, they should reach the temple within just a few minutes. Speaking of which, what did you use as relics this year?"

..

"ACHOO!"

Pyrrha glanced down worriedly as her teammate sneezed loudly. "Are you alright, Naruto?"

"Meh, I'm fine. Someone must be talking about me." The whiskered blond replied, shrugging. "More importantly, how's it looking back there? Is it slowing down at all?"

Pyrrha sighed shaking her head. "Not at all, unfortunately. Mostly my bullets have just been bouncing off the carapace, and it's too hard to hit the tail at the speed we're moving at. If we had a more open space, we could stop and circle it, maybe flip it over."

Naruto hummed in thought. "We'll probably find a place soon…"

"Y-yeah…" Pyrrha agreed, blushing. Naruto didn't see it, though, as she quickly, returned to firing at the Deathstalker to hide her embarrassment.

A few minutes ago, Naruto had proposed that Pyrrha try firing at the Deathstalker, which had unfortunately lead to her stumbling on a root.

Immediately, Naruto had caught her in a one-armed bridal carry. Interestingly enough, Pyrrha noticed that she was hardly jostled at all in the run, and came up with an idea.

Embarrassing as it was, for both of them, she had Naruto continue carrying her as she rested her elbows on his shoulder, and aimed her weapon at their pursuer.

It worked exceptionally well, if you discounted the fact that the bullets weren't actually having any effect on the Grimm's hard exterior.

And that leads to the here and now, with Naruto still carrying Pyrrha as said redhead fired bullet after bullet at the enormous Deathstalker bashing through dozens of trees behind them.

Suddenly, a loud screech passed overhead, making the two look up; a large, bird-like Grimm was flying above them, and with two stowaways, judging by the way it was trying to shake them off.

"Hm… If Red and Sneeze are heading this way, then this is probably the right direction." Naruto thought aloud, before smirking. "In that case, hold on, Pyrrha!"

"Eh?"  
Reminiscent to how he used to amplify his body with chakra, Naruto pumped Aura into his legs, supercharging them to the point where he was a blur, easily three times as fast as before.

"Wai- Eeeeek!"

Instinctively, Pyrrha looped her arms around his neck as they broke the sound barrier… three times.

..

Meanwhile, Yang Xiao Long and her partner, Blake Belladonna, had just entered a relatively large clearing, pausing for a moment to take in their surroundings before heading towards the old stone circle at the center.

Upon approaching the site, Blake raised an eyebrow. "...Chess pieces?"

"Some of them are missing." Yang noted, pouting slightly. "Looks like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well… I guess we should pick one." Blake shrugged, exchanging glances with her partner.

The blond only shrugged in reply, approaching the 'White' half of the ruins. Narrowing her eyes, she picked a piece up and displayed it to the ravenette. "How about a cute little pony?"

"Sure." Blake rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth were notably curved upwards.

The blond pocketed the piece- don't ask where- and walked back to her teammate. "That wasn't too hard."

"Well, it's not like this place is very difficult to find."

The blond murmured in agreement. "Well, should we stay to take a look-see at whoever comes ne- Yes, Blake?"

"...That might come sooner than you think…" Blake said, pointing up when she received a questioning look from Yang.

"Heads uuuuuuup!"

Immediately, Yang jumped to action, arms held out in front of her. "I got you, little si-"

THUNK!

Alas, it was not meant to be, as the two siblings' heads clanged painfully against each other, sending them both sprawling onto the ground. Blake winced at the impact, hissing.

Groaning, Ruby sat up shakily, her eyes swirling as Blake audibly questioned whether Ruby really had just fallen from the sky or if she was hallucinating.

Yang, who was lying on the ground dazed, opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sound of growling coming from the treeline.

Tensing, Yang and Ruby got to their feet, the latter still a bit wobbly, and the three girls readied their weapons. Sure enough, an Ursa burst out of the trees…

"Yeeeeeehaw!"

...before promptly collapsing.

Nora popped out from behind it, pouting as she nudged the body with her foot. "Aww, it's broken…"

After a few moments, Ren ran into the clearing as well, breathing heavily. "Nora… Please… Don't ever do that again…"

Unfortunately for the boy, his partner was already gone, peering at a particular chess piece with wide eyes. Without warning, she snatched it as if someone else was planning to steal it, and did a small victory dance.

"I'm queen of the castle~. I'm queen of the castle~."

"NORA!"

The orange-haired girl grinned, and slid the rook piece into her pocket. "Hehe. Coming, Ren!"

"...Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked rhetorically.

"I.." Yang tried to respond, only to be cut off by… nothing? "Huh. I'd have thought something wo-"

"-KYAAAAH!"

In a blur of red and yellow, Naruto and Pyrrha appeared in the ruins, smashing through at least half a dozen pillars. The reason for the crash was evident as Naruto's face was quickly turning blue.

This was most likely due to the fact that Pyrrha still had both arms looped around his neck, and was still squeezing tightly with her eyes shut.

After a moment, Pyrrha cracked one eye open, before breathing in relief and releasing her grip on her partner's neck. Instead, she started smacking his chest.

"Oh-my-god-Naruto-never-do-that-again-or-so-help-me-I'll-kick-your-ass!"

Naruto laughed sheepishly, looking as though he'd scratch the back of his head if it weren't for his arm being… occupied by…

With a squeak, Pyrrha jumped out of his arm and onto her feet, her cheeks matching her hair as she turned away.

Coughing slightly, Naruto covered his face with his hand as he sported his own atomic blush, before noticing where they were. "Hey, Pyrrha?"

"Y-yes, Naruto?" She still didn't look at him.

Naruto finally noticed the others. "...I think we found the temple. Hi Nora."

"Hi, Naruto!" the energetic girl exclaimed, waving cheerfully.

Everyone else just stared blankly at the pair.

"...I can't TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Yang roared, her hair and eyes bursting into flames. "Can everyone just _chill out_ for _two seconds_ before something crazy happens again?!"

Naruto shrugged, and got to his feet, walking over to the main group with Pyrrha. He nodded to Ren, who also just got there.

"Ok, time's up." He murmured.

"Um…" Ruby tugged on her sister's sleeve, before pointing upwards. "Yang?"

"How could you leave meeeeeee?!"

"I said 'jump'..." Ruby called back to the silver-haired heiress, shrugging weakly.

Blake sighed, looking up. "She's going to fall."

"She'll be fiiine…"

"She's falling."

The last comment came from Ren. Naruto furrowed his brows, before turning to Pyrrha. "Say, what was her Semblance, again?"

"The Schnee's Semblances are hereditary, I believe it was called 'Glyphs'." Pyrrha spoke, tapping her chin. "They can do many things with them, such as… Oh."

"KyaaaAAAAA!"

Sweatdropping, Pyrrha shouted, "Weiss! Use your Glyphs to slow your fall!"

"-!" Weiss's eyes widened, and she mentally smacked herself, before spinning in the air so she was facing downwards. Whipping out her rapier, several white circles appeared below her, stretching and breaking as she smashed through them, though her descent slowed significantly, to the point where she was almost floating when she finally landed.

Glaring at her teammate, she crossed her arms and turned away with a huff. Said teammate's shoulder slumped, as Yang patted her back.

"She sure is 'Weiss' cold…" the blond said with a grin, hoping to lift her sister's spirits.

Instantly, everyone groaned- even Nora!-, and Naruto facepalmed with a sigh.

"What? It was a good one!" she protested.

"No, it wasn't."

"...Words hurt, y'know…"

This time it was Ruby's turn to pat Yang's back, despite the fact that she was part of the unanimous response.

It was a good couple seconds before Blake spoke, disrupting the silence that had come over them. "Say… What happened to the Nevermore Ruby and Weiss were on?"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed in realization. He turned to Pyrrha. "And what happened to that other one? The Deathstalker?"

"..."

"..."

"I think we should retreat, for now…" Pyrrha suggested, mentally shuddering at her memory of the large Grimm. "The objective isn't to kill Grimm, but to secure the relics. And I've already obtained one."  
Seeing Naruto raise an eyebrow, Pyrrha unfurled her hand to show a white castle, while Ruby showed off her white knight. Shrugging, he looked around to see everyone murmuring agreement, though Ruby looked a bit disappointed.

"Run and live. I suppose I can get behind that."

..

Naruto swore loudly as he ducked to avoid another salvo of feather arrows, the Nevermore screeching loudly above them as the group ran towards their objective; an ancient-looking set of ruins, including a tower and bridge, that hung above a giant chasm, on the other side of which stood the cliffs.

As the oversized bird turned around to send another barrage flying at them, the whiskered blond became aware of the scorpion-like Grimm clicking it's claws from behind them. 'We can't fight both at once… We'll need to divide and conquer…'

"Pyrrha! Red!" he shouted, catching their attention. "Split into two groups! One handles the oversized bird, and one handles the scorpion!"

Ruby looked up at the bird, and the the cliffs they were heading to. Looking unsure, she spoke up hesitantly. "We could use the tower and cliffside for launching ourselves at the Nevermore…?"

Grinning widely, Yang made herself known as she clapped her sister on the back. "Great idea, little sis! Come on!"

The blond somehow ran even faster, dragging off her sibling, and Blake nodded to Naruto before following her teammate alongside Weiss.

Pyrrha watched them leave, before frowning as she looked over her shoulder. "We can try immobilizing it by collapsing some ruins…"

Nodding, Naruto exchanged a glance with Ren and Nora. "Well, what're we waiting for? Let's do this!"

Screeching to a stop, Naruto spun on his heel to face the Deathstalker. "Scatter!"

Instantly, Pyrrha jumped to one side, Ren and Nora jumping to the other.

"Lead Hurricane!" Naruto yelled, releasing a series of high and low kicks onto the monster's hard shell, and ensuring that he got its attention. The attack wasn't as effective as he would've liked, unfortunately, and was only able to momentarily stun the Deathstalker, giving him time to follow after Pyrrha.

With an angry roar, the scorpion scrambled after the blond with reckless abandon, smashing through several pillars. Unfortunately for it, this slowed it down somewhat, giving Pyrrha an opportunity she did not waste.

Firing several shots into its tail, Pyrrha managed to almost completely sever the tip before having to roll away. Next to her, a Naruto clone kicked down the few pillars that had survived the Deathstalker's assault, collapsing a good portion of the stone to fall onto it before the clone burst into smoke.

Taking advantage of this, Ren jumped onto its back from behind, and performed an impressive show of acrobatics as he flipped upwards, severing the tip of the tail completely with the two blades he'd hidden in his sleeves, before kicking off of its face.

This in turn caused the glowing yellow stinger to drop onto the Deathstalker itself, firmly lodged in but not enough to actually cause any harm.

"YAAAAAAAH!"

With a boost from her hammer, Nora soared into the air, before flipping over and over again at the apex of her flight, using several shots from her weapon to increase her speed and rotation.

With frightening strength, the blur of pink and orange smashed into the severed tail, driving it completely through the beast. Pushing on the stinger as leverage, Nora flipped backwards away from the trapped Deathstalker.

"And here's the finisher!" Naruto yelled, holding an oversized sphere over his head. "Mini Oodama Rasengan!"

The attack was something Naruto was all too familiar with, though it was slightly different than a normal Oodama Rasengan. As he had composed it entirely of Aura instead of Chakra, it had taken on a golden hue, instead of its normal blue glow. It was also a lot smaller, only being about the size of a room rather than an entire house.

Nonetheless, the attack was still as devastating as ever, grinding the monster to dust in an instant, along with the ground beneath it until Naruto realized the Deathstalker was already dead.

Satisfied, Naruto dispelled the attack and flopped onto the ground, breathing heavily.

"That attack took more outta me than I thought it would…" he murmured, before raising his voice. "Is everyone okay?"

"I'm okay!"

"Some pancakes wouldn't hurt."

"That means she's fine."

Chuckling, Naruto cracked his neck and propped himself up on his arms. "Wanna go check how Red's doing?"

"Hm… First, tell us, what was that last attack?" Pyrrha asked, raising an eyebrow as she too was propped herself up on her elbows. Nora and Ren did the same, looking to the blond. "You said your Semblance was Clones, so how did you do that?"

Naruto shrugged, thinking about how to explain it. "...Well, it's really just a big ball of energy… I spin it around in a controlled shape for the grinding capability, but that's really all there is to the Rasengan…"

"So basically it's just swirling Aura?!" Nora asked excitedly. Before he could reply, she started drooling. "I bet it'd make a great dough mixer… All those pancakes…"

Sweatdropping at the sight, Naruto just watched as Ren karate chopped his friend on her head.

"...It's gotten quiet." Ren noted, looking up from his childhood friend. It was true; the gunshots had stopped. "I believe 'Red's' fight is over."

Naruto grinned. "Sweet! Let's go over and congratulate em, yeah?"

..

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark." Ozpin said, drawing a round of applause from the audience. "The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL (Cardinal), lead by Cardin Winchester."

This triggered another round of applause as the four boys walked off the podium, as another four walked up.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos." the Headmaster said again, the last name getting an especially generous applause. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team PNNR (Plunder), lead by Pyrrha Nikos."

Naruto grinned at the redhead, who blushed as the crowd cheered. "Congrats, Team Captain Nikos."

Pyrrha punched his shoulder playfully, but that only served to make his grin widen.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long." Ozpin said, introducing the last team. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as team RWBY (Ruby), lead by Ruby Rose."

"Looks like things are shaping up to be an… interesting year…

..

Naruto hummed as he and Lie Ren headed to the showers, waving goodbye to Pyrrha and Nora as he closed the door to their dorm. "I'm just saying, not everyone knows each other from before the team pairings; is it really smart to have us all live together?"

Ren only shrugged; the Headmaster was more than a bit eccentric, and that was all he could really say.

Naruto sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "...I forgot my clothes. Be right back, go on without me!"

The boy nodded, shifting his clothes onto one hand to wave goodbye as the blond sprinted down the hall. "Bye, Na… aaand he's gone."

Naruto took a few turned right, and headed towards his dorm. Just as he was about to knock- constant exposure to Sakura's righteous feminine fury had taught him to do that much if a girl was in a room- he noticed a piece of paper taped to the door. "...Hm?"

 _Dear Naruto Uzumaki,_

 _This is Professor Ozpin. I know it might be late when you receive this, but this is of the utmost importance. Please report to my office immediately._

 _-The Headmaster_

 _P.S._

 _The Rabbit has been freed from the Broken Moon._

..

 **Aaaaaand Ozpin's gonna explain why chakra went poof. Yay.**


	7. A Millennia or Two

**AN: Mkay, so… I have a lot on my chest and I'm hoping this will come as some sort of stress relief. Plus, it might clear my head for my AP Exam tomorrow. Yes, I'm writing this in one go. Anyways, I won't bother you with my personal problems, so please enjoy the story.**

 **Oh yeah, I have a question. I was recently… told off about Naruto's character? I apologized for him being OOC, but then I was told "There is no such thing as OOC. There is only the character and a shitty OC"? Can somebody explain that to me please? Like, the line between OC and OOC. And sorry to you too, if you don't like how I'm portraying Naruto.**

..

Ozpin hummed as he watched his scroll, as Naruto waved to Ren, who nodded back, and the two walked into the showers.

Then he looked up, at the very same blond, sitting on the other side of his desk with a dead-serious expression on his face.

While there were Semblances that could create this phenomenon, he highly doubted it was a usual one. For one, most cloning-type Semblances were rather obvious, an example being a certain Monkey Faunus from Mistral. On the other hand, illusionary Semblances didn't affect cameras, focusing instead on the mind and/or eyes.

Some illusions were light-based, but oh well.

"How do you know about Kaguya? What do you mean, she's escaped?!"

Ozpin hummed again, putting away his scroll as he looked over the boy once more.

Naruto Uzumaki; Spiraling Maelstrom, Child of Prophecy, Hero of the Hidden Leaf. Saviour of This World. He didn't seem very much like all those titles, but people rarely were what others chalk them up to be.

Then again, there was a rather concerning title, too. Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja.

Seeing that Naruto was getting impatient, Ozpin stood up, gesturing for Glynda Goodwitch to leave the room. The strict woman raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue, silently walking to the elevator and staring ahead robotically as the door closed.

"Naruto Uzumaki…" Ozpin started, regaining Naruto's attention as he had turned to look at Glynda leaving the room. "Shinobi of Konohagakure. You are… very far from home."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

"I never knew you personally, but my father was very close to you." Ozpin continued, making Naruto scrunch up his eyebrows in confusion. "He told me many stories of the the Hero of the Hidden Leaf. Unfortunately, the Hidden Leaf exists no longer."

"WHAT?!"

Naruto sprang to his feet in disbelief. "What do you mean, it doesn't exist anymore? Baachan would never let that happen!"

Ozpin quietly observed his outburst, knowing that being told someone's home was gone was very hard to accept. What would be harder to accept would be what he was about to reveal.

"That may be true, but very few people, if any, are able to stop the flow of time. You see, it's been just over two thousand years since the Fourth Shinobi War. A lot has changed."

Naruto's eye twitched, but he slumped back to his seat and crossed his arms. "Let's say for an instant that I believe you. You said your father knew me, but I existed over two thousand years ago? How would you explain that?"

Ozpin shrugged. "My father was Kakashi Hatake. I believe you know him?"

Seeing Naruto's eyes widen, he pressed on. "I was adopted, being one of Orochimaru's experiments. It's why I'm still… 'alive', but I'll explain later. In any case, neither he nor Sakura Haruno had managed to find any trace of you after your clash with Sasuke Uchiha. They had believed you to be dead."

"At the same time, the moon had broken, and a black sludge that used to be Black Zetsu rained down on the planet, taking animalistic form. We now call them Grimm."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, recalling the bastard.

Black Zetsu was the third son of a primordial deity, born out of hate just as his mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki was sealed a thousand - no, three thousand now - years ago, by her two elder children. For a millenia, he had worked in the background, shaping the history of the Elemental Nations. Wars, Conquests, Genocides. All him. The thought of the Grimm being part of Black Zetsu was both disturbing and enjoyable. Naruto couldn't wait to go on a Grimm killing spree now.

"My father had barely managed to get ahold of Sasuke Uchiha's corpse and transplant the Rinnegan, before the corpse was consumed by Grimm. They were also able to collect enough Tailed Beast Chakra from the God Tree to release the world from the Infinite Tsukuyomi." Ozpin continued. "Unfortunately, this was an… incomplete release, so to speak."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Didn't the Old Man Sage say that was supposed to release the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Did he lie?"

Ozpin shook his head. "The technique was supposed to be used by _you_ and Sasuke, with the full power of both Indra and Asura, not a man who had transplanted Indra's and used a makeshift version of Asura's. In any case, the moon began sapping away the chakra of everyone on the planet, though they were released from the illusion itself. Within the year, humanity had only the bare amount of chakra for sustained life."

Naruto frowned. That was why he didn't have chakra anymore, probably. "...What about the Bijuu?! I was supposed to protect them!"

"Father was able to seal them away - with their consent of course - so that their power resided in four individuals before their power was completely drained. Unfortunately, I myself lack the knowledge of how to seal them…" Ozpin told him, causing them both to frown as Naruto looked down at his stomach. "However, in the occasion that I was to ever cross paths with you, I was given this package to give to you."

Reaching into his desk, he pulled out a small, metal box that had obviously seen better days. The material was dilapidated and rusted, and looked to be on the edge of falling apart, while the string binding it literally turned to dust from the movement. Carefully, the gray-haired man handed Naruto the box, who took it just as carefully.

Opening it swiftly, Naruto pulled out… a katana? "Sorry, but I'm more of a fists kind of guy, personally."

All protests died in his throat, however, as the sword began to glow faintly. The orange-red glow began to cover the sword, starting from where Naruto's hand held it, and rapidly flooding over the blade. Within seconds, it was completely encased in a glowing, bubbly aura that eerily reminded Naruto of his earliest attempts to borrow the Nine-Tails chakra.

Then the energy sunk _into_ the sword, making runic designs composed out of... Fuuinjutsu? to line the blade. Naruto hissed as it became boiling hot, burning his hands, and he almost dropped it, but managed to refrain from doing so.

The sword then began to melt into chains, curling up in a coil before sliding over to where his missing limb used to be. The two watched in fascination as it solidified into an arm… fully functional, it seemed, as Naruto flexed it a few times. The arm was dark gray in color, looking like an arm produced by the Atlas Military that Naruto had seen a few ads of, but a lot stronger.

Naruto moved his left arm to his right, trailing his fingers along the now cool metal, before jumping with a start. "I can feel it! I can feel from my arm!"

Ozpin's eyes widened, and he instinctively moved his own hand to touch the metal, prodding it. Naruto grinned, flexing the hand a few more times before he looked back at the box, picking up a written letter.

"...How is it not old and dusty like the box?"

"Father felt he owed it to you, who was an Uzumaki, to learn the things you might've learned in the future. Fuuinjutsu was the first he tried to master." Ozpin said, still looking at the arm in astonishment.

Naruto smiled sadly, before opening the letter.

 _Dear Naruto,_

 _I don't know if you'll ever read this letter, but I hope you will. Konoha is doing well, and I've become the Rokudaime. Ha! Imagine that! Anyways, Sakura and I are doing well. Sakura's taken over the hospital, since Tsunade-sama retired, though she's still a bit heartbroken about Sasuke's death. She tries to hide it, and she does it well, but I know._

 _The Konoha Nine - there's only nine now… - are doing pretty well too. Tenten set up a weapons shop, and Shika's my counselor. He's doing his best to fill in the shoes his dad left behind, in his own way. Oh, and I totally called him going out with that Temari girl from Suna. Choji got together with some chick from Kumo, lucky guy, and Shino has his own girl too! Surprising, huh? Shino also got a position at the Academy, too. Ino joined T &I, and is now one of the heads of that department. Kiba joined the ANBU, and I'd say he's doing pretty well. Hinata though, she's taking you and Neji's death hard… She threw herself into work for a while, but we managed to cool her down after a year or two. Remind me twice never to piss me off; I've never seen a scarier ANBU Captain. Oh, and Lee and Guy are training thrice as hard now, after witnessing your strength in the war. Guy is still challenging me to contests… Never thought I'd say this, but they're pretty enjoyable compared to the paperwork I've got to do. Don't tell him I said that._

 _Well, I'm running low on ink. Knowing you, you already opened the package before reading this, so I'll just describe its special features. I made it to interact with Kurama, so that whatever's left of him when you get this can be sealed into the sword, if he wanted. It'll take on the shape of whatever you need most, according to what Kurama thinks. I also made it so that it works in conjunction with your Uzumaki Bloodline, so that it can turn into chains that you can manipulate at will, kind of like Kushina's Chakra Chains. Of course, it can turn back into a sword, too. What do you think? I've spent the last decade or so working on this, so treat it well._

 _Don't get too lost on the Road of Life, ne?_

 _-Your sensei, Kakashi Hatake_

 _P.S. Try not to cause too much chaos, will you? Oh, who am I kidding._

Naruto wiped a few tears from his eyes, before folding it up neatly and tucking it into his pocket. 'Thank you, Kakashi-sensei.'

Ozpin looked on patiently. As much as he wanted to read his father's last words, he respected his will enough to let Naruto at least have this moment. He can always ask later, when Naruto feels more comfortable with sharing.

Turning back to Ozpin, Naruto bowed deeply. Normally he had no respect for authority, but he owed a lot to Ozpin, if only for the package. "Thank you very much, Professor Ozpin."

He'd needed closure about his old life more than he had thought. Naruto smiled again, closing his eyes and placing his left hand over his chest. Yeah, his heart felt tons lighter, now. He was still kind of conflicted about Sasuke, but he'd been dealing with that for years now.

Ozpin nodded, knowing about Naruto's usual disrespect from Kakashi. He was surprised Naruto had even called him by name, let alone bowing and calling him Professor.

Sadly, all good things came to an end, as they returned to the more serious topic at hand.

"So, about Kaguya…"

Naruto sighed, but he sat back down, laying his arms on the armrests.

Ozpin took this as a sign to continue. "...Roughly a millenia ago, I encountered… a woman. You see, due to being one of Orochimaru's experiments during his search for immortality, I transmigrate. Every time I die, my soul moves to a new body almost instantly, though it does take some convincing and compromises on occasion. This woman, became my wife in that life. A problem, though, was that she was a transmigrant as well. More specifically…"

"Kaguya Otsutsuki's soul resided in her." Naruto finished, grimacing. "Well, shit, this just got a lot more complicated."

Ozpin mentally agreed with that statement completely. He sighed. "She's a lot weaker, at least from Father's stories, so when she declared war against humanity, I was able to stop her…"

At the cost of his home, life, and daughters. But that was his burden, there was no need to tell Naruto.

Coughing into his hand, he proceeded. "In the end, she got away. And for the last millenia, she's been creating and controlling the Grimm, and I've been fighting her every step of the way. Lately, though, her actions have gotten quiet…"

Naruto groaned, placing his hand over his face. "That's never a good thing. I mean, sure, a bit of peace and quiet is nice, but the next instant, _bam_ , the bad guys come out with a giant explosion. Literally, I go on a training trip for three years and the instant I come back, Suna gets attacked and Gaara gets kidnapped. Seriously?"

Towards the end, his complaints devolved into mumbles as the tick mark on his head grew. Ozpin nodded along, not quite sure about those events but agreeing with the fact that, as much as he liked peace, he hated it at the same time, knowing that something big was going to happen.

They both sighed simultaneously.

..

"Alriiiiiight!" Nora cheered, jumping onto her bed. With her weapon in her hands. In hammer form. "Let's have a slumber party!"

"Nora, please. You didn't have a single drop of maple syrup since breakfast, so calm down, _please_!" Ren asked, concerned about her hammer. And her health. But mostly her hammer.

"Do slumber parties count if you're doing it with people you're going to live with?" Naruto wondered aloud. Pyrrha shrugged, sitting next to him.

The girls had just returned to the room after their own shower, a few minutes after Naruto and Ren had. The latter was still a bit disgruntled that he had spent half that time talking with a clone, memory transfer or not.

Naruto absentmindedly noted a faint but noticeable smell of strawberries from Pyrrha, probably due to her shampoo. 'Huh. She smells nice.'

While Naruto was seemingly staring off into space, Pyrrha was fidgeting in place (Hey, that rhymed!). 'What do friends do when they sleep together?'

Then her mind realized what she had just thought, red dusting her cheeks. 'No! Bad Pyrrha!'

Shaking her mind free of her thoughts, she decided to speak up. "Nora, please settle down. There are people who are trying to sleep next door. How about, we play a board game _quietly_ , if you aren't sleepy?"

"And that's why you're team leader." Naruto commented, patting her shoulder. "I'm all for it. You guys?"

Nora pouted as she looked at Pyrrha, then Ren. With hope, she turned to Naruto, who simply tilted his head. Slumping her head, she let the majority vote pass. For now. "Spoilsports…"

Ren nodded in agreement. To Naruto's statement, of course, not Nora's. "Well, what're we playing?"

Naruto shrugged. He'd only been in Vale for a week, he didn't exactly spend time looking over board games. Nora, still salty, blew a raspberry, and Ren sighed before turning to Pyrrha.

The redhead hummed, pulling out a box from her luggage. "I, uh, I brought a board game I wanted to try out. It's an old one, but I've never played it before…"

"Combat Ready." Naruto read aloud, before grinning. "Sounds fun. I'm in. I call Yellow."

"Red," Pyrrha said, taking her own red piece.

"I'll be the queen of the castle!" Nora exclaimed, before pouting as she realized there wasn't anything like that. "Uh, then… White?"

It matched her top, at least.

"I guess I'll go with Black, then." Ren said, taking the piece. He wasn't particularly unhappy about it.

Pyrrha took out the manual. "Uh… Here we are. '2-5 players join forces to take on fierce villains and slay monstrous Grimm! Each player has their own separate deck of cards…' "

As Pyrrha continued to read the instructions/intro, Naruto grinned, looking at his team. It might not be Team 7, but it was his team. No, more than that, they were his friends.

And he'll be damned if anyone hurts his friends and gets away with it.

..

Roman Torchwick was infamous in pretty much everywhere. Throughout all four kingdoms, you can easily find a Wanted Poster of him, and if you asked anyone from the shadier parts of Vale, they'll all have different tales to tell. One thing was for sure, though.

He always gets away.

It was one of his mottos, actually. 'I'm a gambling man. I know what bets to make, and I know when to make my exit. Better to live and fight another day, than go down a fool's death.'

As such, when he had heard of someone with the capability to fight Cinder, Emerald, _and_ Mercury, at the same time, his curiosity was piqued. It wasn't enough for him to try switching sides, but it was enough to prompt the idea.

"Where do you think you're going, Torchwick?" Cinder asked, stopping him in his tracks. Damn that woman.

The man merely breathed through his cigar, and pointed at their 'borrowed' Bullhead. "I was supposed to make another Dust Robbery tonight. Or what, has the plan changed without anyone telling me, again?"

"No." Cinder's response was curt, a noticeable amount of venom laced in. "Due to a blonde brat, Mistress Salem has asked that I report to her directly on what happened. You are to continue doing what you are supposed to do."

Torchwick clenched his teeth, but didn't show it outwardly. Giving his cigar another puff, he feigned an interested look. "Salem? First time I've heard of her."

Important information _can_ be useful in negotiations.

Cinder scoffed. "And it will be your last. There's no need for a pawn to know who the player is."

Torchwick shrugged. Oh well. His info on the upcoming operation will be enough. And if it isn't, then he can just point them in Cinder's direction and run.

"If you say so. Now, if you'll excuse me, ma'am," he gave a dramatic bow and flourished his hat, before walking past her. "I have a heist to plan, and goons to boss around. Ciao~"

Smirking, he put his bowler cap back on and gave a nod to Neo. The two entered the bullhead, which took off instantly. Cinder watched impassionately as they flew off, before frowning as she walked deeper into their base. Her talk with Salem wasn't going to be pleasant…

..

 **Yay… Gnight. I have an AP Exam tomorrow so I gotta go sleep.**


	8. Apologies

**Note: I am posting this on all my unfinished stories.**

 **My sincere apologies for the long delay. Unfortunately for those who've hoped for a future update, I've grown unmotivated to write fanfiction (in case you couldn't tell). While this may be irresponsible, I also believe leaving any hopefuls hanging is also irresponsible.**

 **As such, here is my formal statement: I am dropping all my stories and putting them up for adoption.**

 **If anyone adopts a story, please PM me, and I will notify the readers. If you have any difficulty in writing the story, know that I am willing to extend a helping hand.**

 **Thank you for reading this, and sorry.**

 **~DeltaWing13**


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